Everyone Has Sinned, But Not Everyone Let Sin Reign

Hi all, today, I will like to share with you from the word of God in (Rom 6):

6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin.

12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13 Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. 14 For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.

16 Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?

18 You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. 19 I am using an example from everyday life because of your human limitations. Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness.

22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.

            After reading these verses, one may ask: But how can we who are born in sin live a righteous life? In fact, the Bible contains many examples of “righteous men” such Noah, Abraham, Job, and so on. Their examples show that sinful men can indeed be slaves to righteousness. 

Even in the lives of believers, sin still has a very strong influence. Yet, sin shall not be the king.

Even after we yield our lives to Christ, sin will still try to reign in our bodies and attempt to make us obey its evil desires. Sin will not give up stirring up our desires, so that we offer our bodies to sin as an instrument of wickedness. Sin will keep deceiving us that if we give in to it, it will bring us immense pleasure. But to our disappointment, it will at most bring us some superficial, short-lived pleasures, yet in the end, those who sin will only be more accused and bound by sin, feeling even more dissatisfied than before.

Sometimes, when a person cannot withstand the sway of sin, he will say, “Well, everyone sins, no one is righteous, so I too can’t help it but have to keep living in sin.” This obviously sounds like an excuse. If we already believed in Christ, then in Christ, the Bible asserts that we are no longer slaves to sin. Of course, that does not mean that we can stop sinning immediately after becoming Christians, and then start living a perfectly holy and sinless life. But sin shall no longer be our master, for we already have a new Master – God, who will empower us to put sin to death. So Christians can have the assurance of victory as we continue to battle against sin.

God will empower us to stop sin from reigning in our lives.

It is God who works in us to will and to act in order to fulfil His good purpose (Php 2:13). Surely, the God who dwells and works within us will not permit sin to reign in us. Christ came to save men from sin, rather than allow men to remain bound in their sins. But God understands that fallen men are weak and could not resist sin on their own. Thus, He gives believers the Holy Spirit, who will transform our rebellious and sinful heart and make it submit to God. We need help from a power which is greater than our own self-will, such that even if our flesh refuses to obey God, this greater power which supersedes human will can compel us to obey God against the wishes of our own flesh. This greater power comes from the Holy Spirit. Thus, if we walk by the Spirit, we will have power not to gratify the desires of the flesh (Gal 5:16). That’s why even though Christians may also fall into sins, even serious sins, but we cannot remain long in sins. For we will be very miserable in sin, until we reconcile with God and obey Him, then we can enjoy peace again.

Therefore, since our masters have changed, are we serving righteousness more diligently than we used to serve sin?

Charles Spurgeon ever said, “If you have received this grace, which has abounded over your sin, take care that you do more for grace than you ever did for sin.” So, are we doing more to serve righteousness than we served sin in the past? For the sake of sin, we used to be willing to spend lots of time, energy and emotions, even sacrificing our sleep, health, relationships, etc., just to gratify our flesh. How about for righteousness? How far can we go? We have been rather obedient slaves to sin, always acting by its bidding, but how obedient are we to righteousness? In the past, we are always seeking out opportunities to indulge our flesh, but are we as diligent now to look out for opportunities to do good? We were never “lukewarm sinners”, but do we easily become “lukewarm” servants of righteousness now? Just now <v19> reminds us that “just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness.” Now, God will only instruct us what He knows we can do by His power. Thus, with the help of the Holy Spirit, we will be able to have blessed choices and actions. Therefore, if we were so fervent in serving sin and flesh in the past, we must be all the more zealous in serving righteousness and God now.

It is true that sin is still in our lives, yet its power has been shattered by the power of the gospel, such that we are no longer under its rule. While it is true that all men have sin, not everyone will indulge sin. God’s word today reminds us Christians that we need not hand our bodies over to sin, but we can commit our thoughts, actions, time, talents, and every part of our being to serve God as slaves of righteousness. May we use the power of God daily to resist sin and become more and more sanctified in Christ.